Fall 2020 Campus Weeks Virtual Lecture Series ‘Diversity in Germany Today’

Ela Gezen, associate professor of German at UMass Amherst, and Johanna Schuster-Craig, assistant professor of German at Michigan State University, are co-organizers of the Fall 2020 Campus Weeks Virtual Lecture Series “Diversity in Germany Today.”

Featured speakers have been active and important participants in and contributors to debates pertaining to questions of diversity in Germany and beyond.

Tuesday, Sept. 8, noon, Sasha Marianna Salzmann andHengameh Yaghoobifarah

Sasha Marianna Salzmannis a playwright, novelist, curator and director. They were the co-founder of the culturemagazine“freitext” and the artistic director of STUDIO Я. Salzmann also co-founded NIDS – New Institute for Drama, where they give workshops on political writing. In 2017 they were voted “the German speaking theater maker of the season.” In the same year Salzmann finished their first novel, “Ausser Sich” (“Beside Myself”), which is translated into 16 languages and won two major German awards for best debut novel. “Beside Myself” was on the short list for the Book Prize 2017, Premio Strega Europeo 2019 and Central European Literature Award ANGELUS.

Hengameh Yaghoobifarahis a writer, editor and DJ. They are part of the editorial staff at “Missy Magazine,” Germany’s feminist pop and politics magazine, and a columnist for the daily newspaper “taz.” Together with Fatma Aydemir, Yaghoobifarah co-published the essay collection “Eure Heimat ist unser Albtraum” (“Your Heimat is our Nightmare”). Parts of the essay collection have been translated into English at “TRANSITJournal.” Currently, they are writing their debut novel.

Tuesday, Sept. 22, 5 p.m, Fatima El-Tayeb

Fatima El-Tayeb is professor of literature and ethnic studies at the University of California, San Diego. She is the author of “Undeutsch: Die Konstruktion des Anderen in der postmigrantischen Gesellschaft” (“Un-German: The Construction of Otherness in Post-immigrant Society”), “European Others. Queering Ethnicity in Postnational Europe,” “Schwarze Deutsche. ‘Rasse’ und nationale Identität, 1890–1933” (“Black Germans. Race and National Identity, 1890-1933”), as well as numerous articles on the interactions of race, gender, sexuality and nation. Her research interests include African and comparative diaspora studies, queer theory, transnational feminism, European migration and minority cultures, Muslim communities in the West, queer of color critique, visual cultural studies and media theory.

Tuesday, Oct. 27, noon, Peggy Piesche

Peggy Piesche is a literary and cultural studies scholar whose scholarship and activism is located at the interdisciplinary nexus of Black feminist studies and critical race studies, diaspora, and whiteness studies. She is the editor of “Euer Schweigen schützt euch nicht: Audre Lorde und die Schwarze Frauenbewegung in Deutschland”(“Your Silence will not protect you: Audre Lorde and the Black Women’s Movement in Germany”) and co-editor of “Mythen, Masken und Subjekte: Kritische Weißseinsforschung in Deutschland”(“Myths, Masks, and Subjects: Critical Whiteness Studies in Germany”). She is also a board member of both ADEFRAe.V. (Black Women in Germany) andthe Association of the Worldwide Study of the African Diaspora (ASWAD). In addition to being an activist-scholar, she currently works as adviserfor Diversity, Intersectionality, and Decoloniality at the Bundeszentrale für Politische Bildung (Federal Agency for Civic Education).

Tuesday, Nov. 10, Time TBD, Ferda Ataman

Ferda Ataman is a journalist, co-founder and co-chair of the Neue Deutsche Medienmacher*innen (New German Media Professionals). Founded in 2008, this network’s aim has been to “furthering diversity in the media – both in front of the cameras and microphones and behind the scenes, on the editorial as well as the executive level.” She is the author of “Ich bin von hier. Hört auf zu fragen!” (“I am from here. Stop asking!”) and has been writing regularly for “Spiegel Online.”

The lecture series is made possible by the support of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany Washington DC, the Programs of German, Global Studies in the Arts and Humanities, and the Center for Gender in Global Context at Michigan State University, and the Program of German and Scandinavian Studies at UMass Amherst.

For more information or details on how to register for these events, contact Ela Gezen at egezen@german.umass.edu. Check the German and Scandinavian studies website for updates.